1981 Brazilian Grand Prix
|poletime = 1:35.079 |fastestlap = 1:54.302 |fastestlapdriver = Marc Surer |fastestlapnation = SUI |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 26 |winner = Carlos Reutemann |winnernation = ARG |winnerteam = |second = Alan Jones |secondnation = AUS |secondteam = |third = Riccardo Patrese |thirdnation = ITA |thirdteam = }} The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was the second round of the 1981 Formula One Season. The race gained notoriety as being the catalyst of the breakdown in communications between race winner Carlos Reutemann and teammate Alan Jones. Reutemann had disobeyed team orders to let Jones through to take the race win, Jones enraged at the result failed to attend the podium ceremony after the race. __TOC__ Background The 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix was notably the second race to be hosted at the Jacarepagua Circuit, the first since the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix. The event had been traditionally held at the Interlagos Circuit, however inadequate barriers, the bumpy circuit and its deep ditches and trenches off track had meant the circuit had become outdated and unsuitable for the modern safety standards of Formula One. Jean-Pierre Jabouille had notably attempted to return to his seat at the team following his leg injuries sustained at the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix and was attending the circuit, however his temporary replacement Jean-Pierre Jarier remained at the circuit as reserve in case Jabouille remained unfit to drive. Kevin Cogan had also been replaced at the team following a disappointing performance at Long Beach, being replaced with Argentine Ricardo Zunino who inherited the seat for the South American races in Brazil and his home race in Argentina. Ricardo Londoñor, a Colombian racer was set to become the first Colombian to enter a Formula One race when he bought his way into the seat for the race, replacing regular driver Marc Surer in the team. world champion Alan Jones had won the previous race at Long Beach and remained leader in the world championship. His teammate Carlos Reutemann was second in the standings, affirming their continued competitiveness. The team however were the ones to watch in Brazil, their lead driver Nelson Piquet was competing in his home town at Jacarepagua in the city of Rio de Janeiro. There were also rumours around the paddock that the Brabham team had a new suspension that lowered the car onto the track whilst moving, creating the notorious ground effect that had attempted to be removed from Formula One with the banning of skirts. The Brabham car had circumvented the rules by remaining within the 6cm clearance from the ground whilst stationary, however the suspension lowered the car whilst moving to produce the ground effect. had introduced its new Lotus 88 for the Brazilian event, the chassis however was barred from entering on the grounds of it being considered illegal. The car used a twin chassis system in order to assist the production of the ground effect following the banning of skirts. The team reverted back to the Lotus 81B chassis. Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice Overview As the Jacarepagua circuit was a relative unknown to the Formula One fraternity, having only been raced once before three years earlier in 1978, the FIA had approved an extra practice session to take place at the circuit. During the practice sessions, the Colombian debutant for Ensign, Ricardo Londoñor was deemed unfit for Formula One and the FISA failed to grant him a superlicense for the race. With Londoñor being barred entry, Marc Surer retained his seat and would compete for the team for the remainder of the weekend. Jean-Pierre Jabouille continued to experience leg pains throughout the session and continued to feel unfit to drive his Ligier. The team then replaced him with their reserve driver Jean-Pierre Jarier for the remainder of the weekend. Qualifying The updated Brabham BT49 driven by home talent Nelson Piquet was unbelievably quick during the qualifying sessions. The Williams cars of Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones lined up directly behind the Brabham of Piquet. Riccardo Patrese had put in another impressive performance to put his in fourth whilst Alain Prost in the was fifth. The unlucky drivers that failed to qualify were Jan Lammers's , the two cars of Derek Daly and Eliseo Salazar as well as the two 's of Beppe Gabbiani and Miguel Ángel Guerra. Qualifying Results Race Report Prior to the race start heavy rain had afflicted the circuit, however by the start of the race the rain had abated with the skies clearing up. The track remained damp, the only three drivers to take the risk with slicks were Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi's and Siegfried Stohr's . Piquet's dry weather set-up was clearly the wrong choice and he immediately dropped to fourth as Carlos Reutemann took the lead ahead of Riccardo Patrese and Alan Jones. Further back there was carnage at the start-line. Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari got a strong start and was on the back of Alain Prost's Renault when the Renault driver lifted in the wet conditions. Villeneuve was forced to brake heavily which forced Mario Andretti in the behind him to slam into the back of the Ferrari, launching over the top of Villeneuve. In the carnage, the other Renault of René Arnoux and the home racer, Brazilian Chico Serra were caught in the incident and retired. Eddie Cheever and Siegfried Stohr were also damaged, however both cars were able to continue. Before the end of the first lap, Jones had overtaken Patrese to move into second position to make it a Williams one-two with Reutemann in the lead. Piquet had further began to drop back, falling down to sixth behind Bruno Giacomelli and Elio de Angelis. In the early laps of the race, De Angelis overtook Giacomelli for fourth and a few laps later Giacomelli spun off the circuit and damaged his car. This had meant Keke Rosberg at his team's home race was now up to fifth position. Piquet had meanwhile dropped back with mechanical issues. Behind Rosberg came John Watson, Jean-Pierre Jarier, an impressive Marc Surer who had come from eighteenth on the grid for Ensign and Jacques Laffite. Watson and Jarier were soon past Rosberg who began to fall into the clutches of Surer and Laffite. In the following laps Rosberg continued to drop back as both Surer and Laffite passed him. The recovering Alain Prost who was caught in the start-line incident then overtook Rosberg however his race was brought to an end on lap 20 when the struggling Ferrari of Didier Pironi aquaplaned off the circuit on slick tyres, colliding with Prost's Renault and taking both cars out of the race. On lap 29, Jarier went wide and off the circuit dropping behind Surer and teammate Laffite. Surer had continued to drive well and had began to pressure Watson's . The rain had began to increase and on lap 35, Watson succumbed to the pressure and spun off the circuit dropping behind Surer and the two Ligier's of Laffite and Jarier. Surer continued to push on and remarkably overtook De Angelis's Lotus for fourth on lap 49. Jarier had also managed to overtake teammate Laffite at the same time, however was quickly ordered by his team to allow the team leader in Laffite back into sixth to take the final points position. Jarier complied and allowed Laffite back into sixth place. More significant team orders took place at the front of the pack. The two Williams cars of Reutemann and Jones had been dominating the race with Patrese a distant third in his Arrows. Reutemann as the number two driver in the team was contractually obliged to allow his team leader and reigning world champion, Alan Jones through and to take the lead. Throughout the race Jones had patiently remained on the heel of Reutemann's tail waiting for his number two driver to submit his lead to him. The pit board clearly indicated "JONES-REUT" which had indicated to Reutemann that he was expected to allow Jones through into the lead. However throughout the race, Reutemann failed to submit to team orders. Reutemann finished the race taking the race win against his team's wishes, Jones coming an infuriated second. Jones feeling infuriated by the betrayal of his teammate failed to attend the podium ceremony whilst a conflicted Reutemann stood in the podium, in no mood for celebration as Patrese became the only one to spray the champagne. Post-Race Following the result in Brazil, Jones had lost all trust in his teammate stating "I now know I have to go out and beat Carlos as well" with the realisation he would no longer get any help from his teammate in the championship. Reutemann justified his actions in disobeying team orders by stating “Jones had reason to be upset, I can’t disagree with that. I saw the pit signal three laps from the end, and I knew the terms of the contract. But still I was in a dilemma. From the beginning of my career, I always started every race with the intention of winning it – but now I was being asked to give it away, just like that. ‘If I give way,’ I thought to myself, ‘I stop the car here and now, in the middle of the track, and leave immediately for my farm in Argentina. Finish. Not a racing driver any more.” The Williams team whilst angry at Reutemann for disobeying team orders, fined Reutemann for breaking his contract. However the team would thereafter treat Jones and Reutemann more as equals in the championship fight. Team principal Frank Williams later stating many years later on the event “Well, it stirred up a lot of controversy at the time, but, quite honestly, I just found the whole thing very boring. As long as the team gets the points, I don’t care who scores them. Why should I care which bloody driver wins? They’re only employees after all.” Results Milestones Standings after race External Links Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1981 Grands Prix Category:Brazilian Grand Prix Category:Formula One races in Brazil